T.J. Weist sees a base from which to build. He didn't arrive at UConn with intentions of completely redesigning the football team's less-than-productive offense. He arrived in Storrs with intentions to add some efficiency.

Weist was officially announced as UConn's offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tuesday, the first move in a revamping of the coaching staff partly ordered by athletic director Warde Manuel and partly done out of necessity. Weist replaces George DeLeone as offensive coordinator after the Huskies spent two years under DeLeone languishing toward the nation's bottom in most offensive categories.

DeLeone, a longtime friend and colleague of head coach Paul Pasqualoni, will concentrate on coaching the offensive line.

"We're not going to be a spread offense," said Weist, who spent the last three years as the wide receivers coach at Cincinnati. "We're not going to run inside and outside zone and throw the ball everywhere. I'm not going to walk into the Big East and say we're going to start over. What I can give is a fresh approach to this situation.

"Watching the offense from last year, I didn't see an offense that was always unproductive. I think it comes down to making plays. There were good plays called, good schemes called. They just needed to make more plays. We'll have an exciting offense where we spread the ball around. There's nothing more exciting than guys making plays."

A native of Bay City, Mich., Weist is a 1988 graduate of Alabama, where he played wide receiver. He has been in coaching since graduating from Alabama, coaching there, Michigan, Southern Illinois, Tulsa, Indiana and Western Kentucky before his time at Cincinnati. Weist helped Western Kentucky win the Division I-AA national title in 2002 and a year later started a three-year stint as the Hilltoppers' offensive coordinator.

Weist assumed offensive coordinator duties at Cincinnati for the December Belk Bowl victory against Duke after head coach and offensive coordinator Butch Jones departed for Tennessee. Weist began work at UConn on Tuesday, the first day of spring semester classes.

He will surely have the eyes of fans squarely on him in the spring and fall. Fans did little to hide their displeasure with DeLeone's offense and Weist comes from a Cincinnati offense that was highly balanced. It also ran multiple formations to make defending the offense extremely difficult. Weist plans to continue running multiple

"We're going to have a balanced attack," Weist said. "I believe you win games by running the ball and throwing the ball. We're not going to be a throwing team, we're not going to be a running team, but I want to attack and be an aggressive play caller. I want to attack the full field, throw it deep, pound it in the run game.

"We're going to be efficient and we're going to be productive."

Weist's hiring brings an odd dynamic with DeLeone still on the staff, but Weist said he is looking forward to working with DeLeone and has much respect for the man.

"He has more football knowledge than I'll ever have," Weist said.

Weist's hiring fills one of two vacated slots on the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Don Brown left for Boston College and running backs coach Clayton White departed for North Carolina State after the season. According to a source, longtime UConn staff member Hank Hughes is the most likely candidate to take over as defensive coordinator. Hughes has been with the Huskies since 2001 and spent 2002-2004 as the defensive coordinator. He has worked with the defensive line throughout his tenure at UConn.

With Weist also assuming duties with the wide receivers, former wide receivers coach Matt Cersosimo is likely to move to defensive backs, a source said.

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